How-To Geek

Still familiarizing yourself with your new iPad? If you want to take full advantage of its capabilities, there are a few things you'll need to do first.

Linux is more user-friendly than ever, but there are still a large number of irreplaceable Windows apps that don't run on Linux at all. With one open-source program, I solved that problem for 90% of the Windows app I need on a regular basis. This is how.

If you're just beginning Bash scripting, you may often find yourself repeating the same commands again and again in your scripts, but a better way exists. I will explain what "DRY" means and how you should use functions to do it.

Did you buy a new Windows 11 PC or do a fresh installation of the OS? Do you want your PC to be powerful and feature-complete from day one? Well, here are five niche apps that you should install to make Windows do what it can't out of the box.

You don't actually need to spin up a virtual machine to run Linux apps on modern versions of Windows. Microsoft has built tools into Windows 10 and Windows 11 to run Linux apps natively. It's called Windows Subsystem for Linux or WSL, which allows you to run an entire Linux box that can interact with your Windows file system. Originally, you could only run the Linux command-line terminal with WSL, but the newer versions of WSL allow you to run Linux apps with a full graphical interface.

A NAS is an invaluable part of a robust backup solution, and more reliable than just plugging in a flash drive to make backups every once in a while. However, a NAS is also a miniature computer that can run additional services on your network. These are 6 that I always run on mine.

After I get a new phone, transfer the data from the previous device, and finish setting it up, I immediately pull up the app drawer and start hunting for bloatware.

As part of my job, I read about Linux distributions, test them out, and discuss them. Through all of that, I've noticed a few Linux distributions hyped and promoted that I think newbies in the Linux world (or people in general) should steer clear of.

With gas prices still unpredictable, fuel costs have become one of the biggest factors in choosing a new car. Few vehicles are as closely associated with efficiency as the Prius, but many shoppers still wonder whether its fuel-sipping reputation translates into meaningful savings in the real world. Beyond the EPA numbers, the question is simple: how much money does it actually save you compared to a conventional gas-powered car over time?

Over the years, I've flipped and flopped between various Excel keyboard shortcuts, but one has been my mainstay since I was a college kid: Ctrl+1. This memorable keystroke is my backdoor to tackling 80% of the day-to-day and advanced spreadsheet tasks.

My homelab is probably my favorite hobby to spend time on, but a year ago, I made a mistake in my media server setup. Recently, I fixed the problem by putting a tiny computer to use.

The Windows taskbar has been largely unchanged sinc he days of Windows 95, and features a disappointing number of customization options. Worse yet, since Windows 11 was introduced, you don't even get many useful right-click options on the taskbar anymore.

Steam and Valve are having a massive outage that is preventing anyone from accessing the digital store and playing games. This hits right when many people are hoping to squeeze in some holiday gaming on Christmas Eve.

Raspberry Pis are one of the most popular computers among tinkerers, and I use mine constantly for one thing or another. Despite their enduring popularity, they do have some downsides.

With NVIDIA’s RTX 50-series graphics cards, PhysX support was dropped. Recently, NVIDIA decided to bring PhysX support for select games back—but does it even matter?

If you told me 20 years ago that CDs would be so obsolete that they're now just coming back in style, I'd have laughed. But CDs aren't the only type of storage media that's completely outdated.

Shoppers looking for an affordable new car in 2025 don’t have many options left, which makes the country’s cheapest new model stand out even more. While most automakers have abandoned the entry-level segment, this budget-friendly compact remains one of the last true bargains on the market, and it’s not just inexpensive. It offers durability and day-to-day dependability that rival, and in some cases surpass, more established nameplates.

Have you ever received a photo from a friend on a messaging app and thought, “Man, Patrick’s phone sucks”? It turns out it might not be their phone at all—many messaging apps lower image quality on purpose. Let me explain why, and if you stick around, I’ll show you how to fix it.

There's a certain kind of dread when seeing a massive block of text fill the formula bar in Microsoft Excel. When everything is crammed onto one line, your eyes skip over the mistakes that end up breaking your data. Luckily, one simple keyboard shortcut fixes the chaos instantly.

While there is certainly no shortage of Christmas films to choose from, holiday-themed TV shows are harder to come by. But thankfully, Netflix has the perfect festive series that also just so happens to be a quick binge. In fact, you can easily watch it in one day. So, instead of trying to pick which Christmas movie to watch, you should check out Dash & Lily on Netflix.